In Search of a Memory
by kungfuwarrior
Summary: Master Assassin, Isaac, while running from his past, is in search of four memory seals for his Mentor, Ezio. But what he finds instead is a young woman being held by the Templars. Can this entrancing young woman help him find the seals, and maybe the key to his dark heart?
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters from Assassin's Creed, nor am I making any money from this creation.

_**In Search of a Memory**_

_An Assassin's Creed Revelations Fanfic_

_Chapter 1_

A/N: I need to first let you know that I just started playing Revelations so this story might not match up exactly. In fact, I guarantee it. And Ezio is just a minor character in this story because his character is simply too awesome for me to capture perfectly. So this story features two OC's. Enjoy!

* * *

Ezio watched his apprentice with growing interest. Isaac, the master assassin in charge of the Galata Den was talking about recent Templar attacks and their growing strength. But it wasn't his words that piqued Ezio's interest. It was the man's voice. His voice was even deeper than Ezio's. It was a full and resounding voice that could easily fill a room and make weaker assassins tremble. And his eyes… even as the man spoke of his recent victories against the Templars in both Constantinople and the Mediterranean, his eyes held great pain. But Ezio knew the source, and though it had been many years since Isaac had joined the Assassins, Ezio knew not to bring up the past.

Ezio placed his hand upon his apprentice's shoulder. "You speak of victories as though they were losses, Isaac. And yet you have not lost a single assassin since I placed you as master of this den."

"Forgive me, Mentor, but they are not victories. Even as we speak the Templars grow in strength and numbers. Our efforts in Alexandria and Bursa may be for nothing!"

"They _are_ victories," Ezio replied calmly. "Though they may seem small and the war great, your work here has purpose.

"Of course you are right, mentor," Isaac said bowing.

Ezio studied the man before him for a passing second. The Assassin was tall, perhaps the tallest Assassin Ezio had in his ranks. And his frame was large. He was an intimidating sight, and to have him bowed before Ezio was humbling. "Let us now speak of a new mission," Ezio said.

Isaac lifted his head and for just a fleeting moment, his dark eyes sparked with excitement.

Pleased to see such a reaction from the man, Ezio smiled. "I am currently searching for pieces of… a memory."

Isaac frowned in confusion.

Ezio carefully pulled a circular, golden object from the folds of his robe. It was perfectly carved and was glowing from an unknown power. "This is an artifact from the First Civilization. It contains the memories of my ancestor, Altair."

"Altair of Syria, the Mentor of the Levantine Assassins?"

Ezio nodded. "This is but one memory seal," he said passing the seal to Isaac. "There are six in total."

Isaac passed the glowing seal from one hand to the other, inspecting its flawless design with awe.

Ezio continued, "I am on the trail of one more seal, but there is a map with the location of the last four seals. I want you to find this map.

Isaac pulled his eyes from the memory seal. "I will retrieve this map for you. My apprentices and I will leave tonight…"

Ezio held up his hand. "This mission is for you alone. I need it done in secrecy. My sources tell me it is being held in one of three Templar Strongholds. Find the map and bring it to me. Do what you must do to the strongholds and the Templars who reside in them, but do not let anyone discover that it is the map you seek. If they discover your motives, they will take the map into hiding."

Isaac passed the memory seal back to Ezio. "It will be done, Mentor."

* * *

_ Emilia was having the most amazing dream. She was back home on the family farmstead. Her brothers and sisters surrounded her, their joyous laughter filling the warm spring air. _

_ Emilia looked up. The sun was shining brilliantly and all across the field lay beautiful wildflowers. Then her mother and father appeared, their arms outstretched. Smiles lit their faces as they called her name._

_ Emilia ran towards them, her own arms outstretched. But suddenly the sky grew dark. She stopped dead in her tracks, her legs suddenly heavy and fatigued. Then a sharp and icy pain filled her. Her vision swam._

"Wench! Get up!" a guard bellowed as he threw more icy cold water on her shivering form.

Emilia cowered on the floor, pain from endless days of torture filling her body. Had they not tortured her enough? God, how long had she been in this place? Weeks, months, surely it had not been a year!

"You filthy wench! I said get up!" the guard yelled once more while kicking her squarely in the stomach.

Emilia fell to her side and curled into a ball. Their torturing had become more frequent as of late and she could feel her body giving up.

"No man would have a such a stinking rat!" another guard laughed and spat on her as he hauled her to her feet by her hair.

Emilia struggled not to scream in pain as she was yanked from her cell. But really, how could she scream when her throat was so parched? Could they not have spared some of that cold water for her to drink?

The guard continued to drag her by her hair for what seemed an eternity, until finally she was thrown back onto the floor.

Emilia squinted in the harsh light. Torches lit up the room. Sharp fear shot through her body. She had been in this room before. And last time they had thrown her on the rack.

Emilia struggled to keep her body's convulsions under control, but she was terrified. Tears slipped down her face. When one of the guards reached for her a new wave of adrenaline filled her and she lashed out. Her nails connected with flesh and the guard bellowed in pain. The other guard quickly restrained her, throwing her against a table.

"You will regret that, bitch," the injured guard said between clenched teeth. Blood from where she had attacked him filled his eyes and dripped off his chin onto the table. It splattered into a pool on the marred wood. Then he grabbed one of her hands. She struggled with all of her remaining strength, but the guard behind her held her bent down over the table.

"No! Please!" she yelled, her voice cracking with the effort. But her cries did nothing to move the guards. A hammer fell upon the fingers of her left hand and she screamed in agony.

* * *

This was the third Templar Stronghold. The first two had yielded no sign of the map. Even interrogating some the Templar guards had yielded nothing of use.

Isaac ran a hand over his face before slipping on his mask. If the map wasn't in this stronghold, then he would fail this mission. Failure was just not an option.

With great ease, Isaac leaped across the rooftops. He did not have the gift of eagle vision as his mentor, Ezio did, but he did not need it. He planned to just sneak in, find the map, and sneak out.

As Isaac approached the stronghold, he saw a guard a few rooftops ahead. To the left, the roof dropped one story and created a small patio, the perfect way to sneak past the guard.

With a steady and sure hand, Isaac's hidden blade plunged into the guard's back before the man even knew what was happening. Not a sound escaped the man's lips as Isaac laid him carefully to the tiles. He knew he could have just snuck past the guard undetected, but he simply had no qualms about killing Templar guards. At least not after…

Isaac shook his thoughts away. Now was not the time to think of the past. He had a job to do.

* * *

Isaac entered the dungeon and the foul stench of death hit his nostrils. Surely there would be nothing alive down here. A glance in the first cell confirmed his thoughts. A body lay decaying on the floor.

He pulled his eyes from the rotting corpse. Death and the lack of guards made Isaac uneasy. If the map was down here, then shouldn't there be more men guarding it?

On silent feet, the master assassin made his way deeper into the dungeon. Rats scurried from his path and around every corner, only corpses lay waiting for him.

This mission had not gone as planned. Of course it had been easy to infiltrate the stronghold, and it would most likely prove just as easy to escape, but where was the map? The dungeon was the last place Isaac expected to find it, yet here he was searching the dank cells.

A blood-curdling scream filled the air. Without hesitation, Isaac ran toward the scream, deeper into the dungeon where the air grew even fouler.

Another scream rang out, piercing his ears. He rounded a corner where the sight before him instantly filled him with rage.

* * *

Emilia screamed again as the guard grabbed her right hand. "Please! Please don't," she begged, but now her voice came out as a choked sob.

The guard grinned widely, "Beg all you want, little wench. There isn't anyone in the world who can…"

It all happened so quickly, but a heavy axe fell on the guard, cracking his skull open just in front of Emilia. The other guard was pulled from her and she sank to the floor cradling her crushed fingers. A masked and hooded man wearing the robes of an assassin quickly killed the second guard and was suddenly kneeling at her side.

"Can you walk?" he asked more as a command than a question.

Emilia did not register his words. His voice was deep… and angry? She tried to focus on his mask, but her eyes were unseeing. The pain had become too much to bear and she fought to stay conscious.

The assassin growled low in his throat, as he seemed to realize that she was in no condition to walk or even make sense of what was happening around her. He gently, but swiftly picked her up, holding her to his chest. "Stay with me, şanslı biri. You are safe."

Emilia tried to keep here eyes open, but her lids felt so heavy. She clung to the warmth her rescuer provided. She tried to speak but her voice failed her.

Suddenly she was back on the floor. She reached blindly for the assassin as he pulled away from her. The sounds of fighting raged only a few feet from her. Emilia struggled to sit up and open her eyes. She watched in horror as the assassin's axe connected with steel. There were five guards, heavily armed, circling and fighting the assassin. Emilia was so distracted by the fight and the pain that consumed her that she almost missed the sixth guard enter the room, his gaze locked on her.

Emilia scrambled to her feet just in time to avoid the sharp edge of the man's sword. He swung at her again and Emilia stumbled backwards and into the wall. With a trembling hand, she grasped the only weapon she could find, a torch. She swung at him, surprised to connect. His clothes lit up in flames as he shouted in shock.

The Templar stumbled around trying to put out the fire as it engulfed him. Without thinking, and with the very last of her strength, Emilia kicked him in the chest, sending him crashing into a pile of old hay. She sank to the floor just as the hay burst into flames, filling the room with heat and thick smoke.

* * *

A/N: I know that Ezio locates all of the memory seals himself, and there is no map, but what if there was a map, and what if he enlisted help from another master assassin?! Yep, that seems to be the direction I'm taking this story. XD R&R!

© 2012 kungfuwarrior


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

* * *

Isaac pulled his axe from the last Templar in the room and sheathed it at his side. Blood dripped from his fingers as he crossed to the other side of the room where the prisoner lay unmoving. Kneeling at her side, he rolled her onto her back. "şükür, you are alive," he whispered, not sure why this stranger's life even concerned him.

Feeling the heat of the rapidly growing fire on his neck, he swiftly picked up the prisoner's limp and tiny frame, throwing her over his shoulder. With an equally hot fire in his eyes, he unsheathed his dagger. With no map, and a strange rage eating at his chest, Isaac burst through the heavy wooden doors that led from the dungeon. Smoke billowed out in huge dark plumes. Outside there were at least ten guards running toward him. Isaac shifted the woman's body on his shoulder and gripped his dagger, preparing for another fight. Instead, the guards ran past him, a few shouting orders to bring water.

Isaac slipped through the shadows and the smoke, knowing that the Templars would not be able to put out the fire. He clenched his jaw. The stronghold would burn, along with any map that may have been in there.

* * *

The sun was just beginning to rise when Isaac stormed through the entrance of the Galata Headquarters covered in ash and blood. "Master Assassin, Isaac!" a few of the apprentices shouted.

He ignored them as he shifted the young woman in his arms so that he was holding her to his chest. Still unconscious, she seemed to snuggle against him, searching for warmth. Her uninjured hand gripped the folds of his robe. Isaac felt himself holding her closer.

Now inside the den, he could clearly see the extent of her stay in the Templar dungeons. She was malnourished, thin and pale. Her skin was covered in dirt and her long hair was matted in grime. The fingers on her left hand were all broken and her body showed the marks of being whipped.

"Bring the doctor," he ordered, while moving swiftly past his apprentices and down into the den.

He picked a spare recruit room and gently laid the woman's body on the bed. He was acutely aware of a few braver assassins hovering just outside the bedroom door. "Light," he ordered, and one of his apprentices fumbled for a lamp.

"And bring warm water and blankets," another voice ordered sharply.

Isaac looked up to meet the eyes of a high-ranking apprentice. "Candida," he said, acknowledging her with a curt nod.

Candida moved swiftly to the bed. "What happened?"

"A Templar Stronghold. She was being tortured," he said simply and with a low growl.

Candida nodded in understanding, though her brows quirked when she saw that her Mentor's hands were still closed tightly into fists. "And you?" she asked somewhat cautiously.

"I am uninjured."

Candida reached for a towel and carefully dipped it in a bowl of warm water. "Yes," she murmured. "But you are… irritated," she said, choosing her words carefully. "You are not usually so…"

Isaac pulled his eyes from the woman in the bed and glowered at his apprentice.

"Forgive me Mentor," Candida said, "I only mean that it is rare for you to show such emotion," she continued as she gently dabbed the wet cloth across the woman's forehead and cheek.

"Do you not see the torture they put her through?!" Isaac nearly shouted.

Candida pursed her lips. "I do see," she murmured solemnly as she continued to clean the soot from the woman's skin. "But this is not the first time you have rescued someone from a Templar Dungeon. There is something more to this woman, isn't there?"

Isaac's face contorted into a look of deep pain, but in a flash the look was gone. "No. She is no one."

Just then the doctor rushed into the room. "Hastam nerede?"

Isaac bowed to the doctor but the doctor pushed past him. "Out!" the doctor ordered. "I must see to my patient."

A dark look passed over Isaac's face, but Candida laid her hand upon his shoulder. "The doctor will take care of her now," she said as she led the way from the room.

* * *

Smoke and heat. Emilia struggled to breathe. Her lungs burned. "Hold on," a deep voice echoed in her ears. "_Benimle kal._ Stay with me," it whispered.

Emilia fluttered in and out of consciousness. Every time she began to wake, her body screamed in agony and pulled her into darkness once more. At some point she became aware of a large hand gently brushing the side of her face, but it mixed with strange dreams and perverse realities. Quiet and peaceful dreams twisted to become dark and frightening. Reality merged with the impossible. But throughout every dreamscape one thing remained constant – his voice.

Emilia woke slowly. The fog from a strange dream of a dark tower and a mysterious map lingered. She tried to swallow and shift in bed but her throat burned and her body felt weak. _Bed_. Emilia opened her eyes confused. Whose bed was she in? Wait, wasn't she in a Templar dungeon? Then the memories of her rescue flooded back. The guards, the fire… and the masked assassin.

Emilia put a shaky hand to her face. That's when she noticed the severely swollen and bruised fingers of her left hand. She grimaced, remembering all too well the torture she had been put through.

Looking around the room, she took note of her surroundings. It was a small room, furnished simply and efficiently. Curiosity had her sitting up in bed, shifting so her feet hung off the sides. Someone had cleaned and dressed her in a plain shift. Her feet were bare and she wiggled her toes, noting that they were the only part of her body that wasn't pained and stiff.

A noise out in the hall caught her attention. Emilia slid from the bed until her feet touched the floor. Gritting her teeth, she tried to stand. Her legs wobbled and she almost fell to the floor, but somehow she managed to make it to the bedroom door. She placed her hand on the knob just as the door opened.

On the other side of the doorway stood a tall woman with long dark hair. Her eyes grew large when she saw Emilia.

"Oh no, back in bed," she said, quickly ushering Emilia backwards. "It's quite a relief to see you awake though."

Emilia opened her mouth to speak but it only came out as a croak.

The dark haired woman laughed a little. "You must be thirsty. I brought you a glass of water," she said. "I'm Candida, by the way, but you can call me Candi."

Emilia settled back in bed and took the glass from the woman. She smiled, "Emilia," she managed to whisper, but grimaced at the pain that small word caused her throat.

"Well, Emilia," Candi continued. "I'm sure you have many questions." She sat down on the side of the bed and turned toward her.

Emilia nodded. "Where… am I?" she croaked. "Who…" but her voice died away.

Candi patted her on the arm. "You're in Constantinople, in the Galata district. You're… in an Assassin's den. As for who rescued you… well, to be honest, he hardly left your side. It wasn't until an hour ago that he had to leave for… a mission," she said somewhat evasively.

Emilia looked at the garb Candi wore and realized it looked similar to the robe her rescuer had been wearing. "So you're an assassin too?"

Candi smiled widely. "I am."

Emilia studied her. From everything Emilia had always heard, assassins were ruthless and cruel. Deadly and secretive. This woman was open and pleasant. She simply looked too lively and warm to be an assassin. Emilia briefly wondered about the assassin who rescued her. Was that his warm hand that had caressed her face in her dreams? Was that his voice? Surely such a voice did not belong to a monster. Perhaps the assassins were… different than how people always described them.

"I know what you're thinking," Candi said. "But assassins are not as terrible as the Heralds describe. Don't get me wrong, though. We are assassins, trained killers," she said seriously. "And it is rare that someone from the outside is allowed in one of our dens. My mentor, the one who rescued you, he is… he has allowed you to stay, probably because he intends to ask you to join us."

Emilia's eyes widened.

Candi quickly covered her mouth. "Forgive me, I speak without knowing his plans. It's just that many of those we rescue from the Templars are given the opportunity to join our ranks," she said. "And my mentor did tell me that you managed to fight off one of the Templars down in the dungeon.

Emilia stared at her with her mouth hanging open. Yes, maybe she had set one of the Templars on fire, but she could hardly imagine herself as an assassin.

"Perhaps it is something to think about," Candi said. "But for now," she said, holding up a pair of scissors, "We do something about your hair."

Emilia looked at her in confusion. "My hair?" she whispered.

"Well, I was able to wash you while you were sleeping, but unfortunately your hair is far too matted in grime to be saved. We'll need to cut it shorter so I can run a brush through it," she said smiling.

Emilia tried to run her fingers through her long hair, but Candi was right. It was impossible. Then a thought occurred to her. She looked around the room.

Candi seemed to read her mind and moved across the room to grab a small hand held mirror from inside a drawer. She walked back to Emilia's bedside, but hesitated when she went to hold the mirror to her.

Emilia furrowed her brow in confusion but took the mirror from Candi. As soon as she saw her reflection though, she knew why the woman had hesitated. Tears welled up in her eyes. Her face was gaunt and pale. Even her eyes were flat and lifeless. She dropped the mirror in her lap and hung her head. Up until now, her stay in the Templar dungeon had been like a bad dream. But upon something so simple as seeing her reflection, it made it all so real again. Tears fell from her eyes and sobs racked her body.

Candi placed a comforting hand upon her shoulder but didn't say anything. What could be said? The Templars were bastards. They were soulless and cruel.

When Emilia's sobs quieted Candi took up the scissors once more. "Shall we?" she asked.

Emilia didn't look up, but just nodded.

* * *

A/N: I titled this story In Search of a Memory because Isaac is searching for the memory seals and Emilia was going to be searching for her past because I was going to have her suffering from amnesia. But as you can see, I decided not to go that route. Anyway, if you enjoyed the story so far, don't forget to fav and review! Thanks!


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